Promises to keep
by Rogercat
Summary: Salazar had a life before meeting the other Founders and starting Hogwarts


Both of them were born here in the Fens of Eastern England, could track the same kind of ancestors on the father's side of their family tree, for they were cousins, born to a set of brothers with different wives.

The marshlands had been the home of their family for generations, and hopefully it would keep being so long after their own time.

"Salazar, help!"

The young boy stopped rowing the small boat for a moment, trying to see where his cousin had gone. Then the sound of a splash as something heavy landed in the water.

"Cearo!"

She struggled to keep her head above, trying to swim but her frail body did not allow much strength. But Salazar used his magic to pull his cousin up into the boat, covering her shivering form with his own cloak for warmth.

"I-I wanted...to try walking on the water…" Cearo whispered in a thin voice, watching him turn the boat around so they could return home.

"It was a nice idea, but maybe a thick layer of ice might help to avoid a unexpected bath with your clothes on."

It was a poor attempt of a joke, but Cearo still smiled. Salazar never said things to be mean towards her.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

Of course they got grounded by his parents for leaving the Slytherin Castle without a servant, and Cearo found herself on bedrest again as a fever broke out in her body from the cold bath despite the summer heat.

"It is a shame that she is of frail health, for that will only make it difficult to find someone for her to marry…"

For all of that it was just a handful of months between them, it was impossible to ignore the differences between Salazar and Cearo. Not just in gender and their position in the Slytherin family, but also in health and magical ability.

"_I do not want to marry someone who thinks poorly of me for my health and not so great control of my magic…_" Cearo thought bitterly for herself under the bed covers to keep her warm once the fever broke, as she watched her uncle and aunt-by-marriage in the light from the crackling blaze on the hearth. Salazar was speaking to one of the snakes owned by the family in low hisses.

She did not resent Salazar for being the son of the Head of House Slytherin, or the one who was better at magic. Cearo was not fond of meeting people outside the household servants and the people living in the local villages, she knew that other magical families would not view her as a suitable bride for their sons, desiring witches with good health as a promise to ensure the survival of future children. For Cearo, who had been born a month too early, there was a higher risk of that she would not do well in childbirth because of her frail health.

"Salazar, can we imagine more of that secret chamber we so enjoy?" she asked as loudly as she could. He smiled at her, coming over so he could sit at the end of her bed.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

Many years later, long after that they had married at the age of 17 and he had been left as a widower at the age of only 31 years old, Salazar looked around in the newly finished Chamber of Secrets.

"This shall not only be a shelter for the students of Hogwarts if there is any kind of danger against the school, but it is as much your chamber as mine, sweet Cearo."

She had been the one to make the basic drawings when she still lived, to give him the whole idea after a innocent game of imagination in their childhood which was now gone forever. But Salazar had no intention to let his wife be forgotten by history, just because he was one of the four Founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"I will return to your side soon, Cearo. Are you longing for me, just as a much as I misses you?"

They had loved each other in their own way, even long before they had discovered what romance really meant, and Salazar had not protested when his aging parents suggested Cearo to be his bride, when there was no other suitors for her hand in marriage. She had been their ward since becoming a orphan in a young age, he had never been able to imagine a life without her at his side.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

Author's note:

Cearo is a real Anglo-Saxon name which I chose for Salazar's wife in my HP stories. It is very likely that he was married since the House of Gaunt is his descendants, since I doubt that it would not be viewed with kind eyes if he had a illegitimate child


End file.
